Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania, knew that the Jews who came to the consulate during World War II desperately needed his help.

They were trying to escape the Nazis, and they were running out of time. For him to not issue a transit visa so they could travel to Japan was akin to a death sentence, so despite risking his life and that of his family, he ignored governmental protocols and signed thousands of them.

Among the recipients were Shalva Ginsparg's great-grandparents. The Hollywood resident's account of Sugihara's generosity and other heroes led her to be one of 10 high school students chosen as a first-place winner in the national Holocaust Remembrance Project essay contest.

Ginsparg, who recently completed her junior year at Weinbaum Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton, will join the rest of the first-place winners on a weeklong, all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles.

"It's a very exciting opportunity," she said.

The group will receive up to $7,500 in college scholarships, meet Holocaust survivors and tour several memorial facilities, including the nation's oldest Holocaust museum.

The annual contest is sponsored by the Holland & Knight law firm and the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation. It's aimed at promoting awareness and study of the Holocaust.

Ginsparg's essay detailed how Sugihara signed as many visas as he could, handing them out as he boarded his train to leave the country, throwing them out the window to anyone who could get their hands on them.

Marie Lefere, the foundation's chairwoman, said she was struck by the optimism in Ginsparg's essay.

"I thought it was very interesting that she took that approach," Lefere said. "The topic that she chose really stood out."

Ginsparg said the point of her essay was to remind people that even in the bleakest of situations, there are positive lessons to be learned.

"So much has been written about the Holocaust, but I wanted to write about the good," she said. "There is a danger in that you can become disillusioned with man and you focus on evil. The best way to empower ourselves is to recognize goodness. If we see ourselves as heroes, then we can become heroes, and then we will have the ability to stand up and effect change."

For more information and to read the winning essays, visit holocaust.hklaw.com.